Citizens having problems with mosquitoes should contact Public Works Streets Division, 972-442-7588. An inspector will survey the area and assist citizens in evaluating potential mosquito breeding areas. The Street Division is responsible for larviciding (an agent when dissolved in water inhibits mosquito larvae growth) and adulticiding (use of an insecticide to destroy adult mosquitoes).

Mosquitoes such as the Culex quinquefasciatus, otherwise known as the southern house mosquito, have the ability to transmit diseases such as Encephalitis and the West Nile Virus. Since mosquitoes can be carriers of disease, the City of Wylie’s Street Division randomly traps mosquitoes and sends these samples to the Texas Department of Health’s laboratories for analysis. If a sample is positive for any disease, the residents in that area are notified.

Public Works officials are working to minimize the risk to residents through continued testing of mosquitoes throughout the city. If they find larvae in standing water, a larvicide is then applied if there are no natural predators, such as minnows, in the standing water.

The Center for Disease Control recommends taking the following precautions:

Apply insect repellents on exposed skin. Four ingredients are recommended: DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus (or PMD), and IR3535 (its latest addition to the list, sold by Avon). Permethrin can be used on clothing, shoes, camping gear, and bed nets. Directions on insect repellant should indicate how often they should be reapplied and for which age groups they're appropriate but not on skin

Consider wearing long pants and long sleeves when weather allows it, or simply stay indoors at or near dawn and dusk, when West Nile infections tend to occur. "Try and avoid mosquito bites at these times," said Lyle Petersen, director of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases.

Eliminate mosquito breeding sites around your home. These include small pools of water such as a birdbath that's not cleaned out, water at the bottom of a flowerpot, and old buckets or tires with standing water. "Any kind of container can breed mosquitoes," Petersen said. Emptying such containers once or twice a week should do the trick.

Put screens on your windows and doors; repair the screens if they have holes in them. Also, use air conditioning so you can keep the windows closed.